Wind slabs in the alpine seem to be well-formed and reactive. Remain vigilant, as the cold can quickly turn a small incident into a critical situation.
There are new wind slabs on the northeast to south aspects. They are reactive to human triggering. There may still be some stubborn, isolated wind slabs formed on January 28 on North to East aspects. We have few recent observations in the Alpin.
We observed the deposition of an avalanche at the foot of the Couloir à Benny. The size 2 avalanche was about 24 to 48 hours old and we assume it was caused by a natural trigger. We weren't able to see the crown, perhaps it was filled in by yesterday's strong winds.
If you head into the backcountry, thanks for sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
In the alpine and at treeline, we find a variety of surfaces, ranging from surface obstacles, hardened snow to recent wind slabs on northeast to south-facing aspects. In areas protected from the wind and below treeline, there is between 10 and 30 cm of powdery snow. The middle of the snowpack appears to be fairly stable (snowpack consolidation), although facets are developing near the crusts at the base of the snowpack. Snow depth at mid-mountain varies between 90 and 130 cm.
WEATHER FOR THE CHIC-CHOCS RIDGES AND SUMMITS
A cold but sunny weekend
Friday evening and night: A few clouds. Wind northwest, 15 to 25 km/h. Minimum -20C.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Wind northwest, 25 to 50 km/h. Maximum -23C.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Northwest winds, 30 to 60 km/h. Maximum -19C.
Monday: Intermittent snow. Accumulation of 3 to 5 cm. Wind northwest, 30 to 50 km/h. Maximum -12C.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine weather forecast.
